Heartbreak for Perth couple with cystic fibrosis who met in hospital as children

After a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis, Matt Maartensz has died at the age of 29 - his beloved wife Kaila by his side.

According to Perth Now, Matt passed away at his home on March 31, just weeks after the couple's love story made headlines and warmed hearts around Australia.

"I don’t even have the words to express how much I loved you, how much I’ll miss you and how heartbroken I am right now," Kaila, who also has cystic fibrosis, wrote in an Instagram tribute.

"I will love you forever my fierce dinosaur."

Matt had been diagnosed with the life-threatening genetic condition as a child - just like Kaila, who he met in hospital.

However, his health deteriorated suddenly at the end of last year, prompting the Perth couple, who married in 2015, to appeal to the public for support.

“We were told that because they didn’t know what was wrong with Matt, and because the treatment they were trying wasn’t working, there was nothing more they could do," Kaila, 32, told 9Honey in February.

The pair were “practically babies” when they met, often finding themselves undergoing treatment together at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children as they grew up.

This sounds like the plotline for a Hollywood film, but Kaila admitted it wasn’t exactly love at first sight - not for her, at least.
“To be honest, I thought [Matt] was quite annoying at that stage,” she told 9Honey.

Matt and Kaila on their wedding day in 2015. (Image supplied)
“He did write me a love letter when I was about 15, so he would have been about 13, which I still have to this day. I thought that was pretty cute.”

Though lung transplants had given each of them a new lease on life in recent years, Kaila recalled the phone call from her husband that marked a turning point last December.

He spent two weeks in intensive care, but treatments weren’t improving his condition. He was then transferred to the ward and put on the highest possible level of oxygen.
“It’s hard to comprehend that one day he was working a really busy, labour-intensive job and [then he could] barely walk to the toilet on his own,” Kaila told 9Honey.

While Matt's days were filled with “nurses, doctors, blood tests and tablets”, Kaila had eventually returned to work and divided the rest of her time between hospital visits and spending time with the couple’s two dogs.

Matt Maartensz has died at the age of 29. (Image supplied)

Doctors were unable to give Matt a clear prognosis, but the couple was told he wouldn't be getting better.

“Matt has said to me that he is so scared of not knowing and not getting better, and especially of dying, because he has so many things he still wants to do and so much to live for," Kaila said at the time.

“His strength inspires me every single day."

Friends and family members rallied around the couple, and a GoFundMe campaign raised thousands of dollars for Matt's ongoing care - a generosity Kaila described as "overwhelming".

Before Matt's health took a turn, the last few years saw the couple doing things they never thought possible after undergoing lung transplants in 2012 and 2014.

In fact, Kaila’s transplant was the catalyst for their friendship evolving into something more serious.
Doctors had told her she needed to gain weight in order to be eligible for the procedure, so she reached out to Matt for advice, knowing he had gained "a fair bit" of weight himself.

Kaila says Matt made her laugh like nobody else. (Image: supplied)

Matt responded by asking her out to lunch, telling Kaila he’d show her what he ate.

“We had lunch and he barely spoke. I babbled to fill in the silence and left thinking, ‘Well, that was awkward’,” Kaila recalled.
“Little did I know he thought of it as a date and was really nervous!”
The deal was sealed when Matt adopted a puppy, after Kaila had revealed her status as a “complete crazy dog lady” to him over breakfast one day.
“I like to tell him that was what ultimately won me over,” she said, though it was really the fact he understood so much of what she’d been through and could always make her laugh.

“He’d also gotten a bit better looking than his PMH days,” Kaila added, laughing.
Matt proposed to Kaila after she’d been out to breakfast one day; she didn’t realise anyone was home, and was startled to hear a noise as she opened the door.

Matt's health took a serious turn in December 2017. (Image: supplied)

“I stepped back and went to call Matt when he opened the door, all dressed up and had rose petals over the floor and couch,” she recalls.

“He got down on one knee and I didn’t even let him finish proposing before I said yes.”
The couple married in 2015, a day Kaila described as “so special” - and one they knew wouldn’t have been possible without their lung donors and their families.
Writing on Instagram earlier this week, Kaila reflected on the lessons she'd learned in the last four months she spent with her beloved Matt.

"Stay up late and chat to your husband about every little thing on your mind. Don’t worry about having to get up early. You can catch up on the sleep," she said.

"Enjoy the little moments. It’s something you have to be mindful of doing but the little moments are some of the most special ones."

She also urged her followers to tell people exactly what they wanted them to know, and to celebrate birthdays.

"Don’t be sad about getting older. The alternative is much worse," she wrote.

"Breathe. I don’t think there are many people who don’t take breathing for granted. Once a day take a deep breath and realise how lucky you are."

Kaila concluded her post by sharing the one thing Matt said he would change in his life: to dance more.